Blood of a Demon
by madamwolf
Summary: Shameless Castiel whump, cause I can. Cas gets hurt and needs the help of Dean, Sam and... someone else?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Okay… this is nothing but shameless Castiel whump, I was in the mood so I wrote this during my biology lecture, yeah, okay, should be doing bio but whatever. I likes me some Castiel. This was intended as a oneshot but there's another chapter coming, only one more though, a short one just to, ya know, give you some closure.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Castiel, Dean, or Sam or Supernatural in general. I wish I did, whoo boy, if I owned Cas/Misha or Dean/Jensen or Sam/Jared…. Damn.

**Pairings:** None, although I suppose if you squint and turn your head to the left while doing a clockwise turn you can see some hints at Destiel. Lord knows I read it, but I don't really write it.

**Timeline:** Late season five… I guess.

**Blood of a Demon**

Castiel readied himself in a fighting stance in front of the demon. He had been battling the creature of hell for some time now and neither seemed they would be quitting soon. If only he could perform an exorcism, if he could have this would have been over ages ago. He even tried, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't, that mistake earned him a punch in the face and a new cut along the bridge of this nose. Not that he felt any of the wounds his vessel was withstanding, but it did weaken him more than he would have liked. Eventually he would have to stop and heal, but eventually so would the demon.

"I don't understand why you're fighting me," the demon said when there was a break in the battle after pushing Cas to the ground. He spit blood on the floor and grinned before continuing. "We're so alike, you and I. You've fallen, yes? You're cut off from your precious _father_." He spat the word like poison on his tongue. "You're growing weaker and weaker by the day, you should just join us, and then your power will be restored and made greater than you could ever imagine, Castiel." It truly sounded like the demon wanted to help him, but Castiel knew better.

"I would rather die," Castiel scowled pushing himself back up to his feet. Across the way he saw a jagged metal rod lying on the ground in a mass of debris. He could use that and end this fight quickly, if only there wasn't a demon standing between him and it.

The demon smirked. "I figured you would say as much. I'm sorry we couldn't work something out, can't say I didn't try." He said and rushed at him once more.

The creature swung at Castiel but missed, the angel had ducked down and jumped away from the blow.

The demon laughed. "You're so amusing when you think you can win."

Castiel remained silent.

"Look at you, I should just call up some friends and send you back to Heaven now. You're a pathetic excuse for an angel. You know… now that I think about it, what would they do to you, up there, do you think? Would they contain you? Hurt you? _Kill _you?" He grinned. "In their eyes you're as bad as I am."

Castiel went after the demon once more, kicking him in the knee and driving his elbow into his face. The demon fell to the ground with a strangled cry but before Cas could do anything more the demon lashed out and hit him in the back of the knee.

Castiel fell but was not injured, that is, until the demon pounced on him and began pummeling him in the face. After the shock wore off Castiel stopped the blows and threw the demon off of him. He scrambled for the pipe as the demon grabbed him by the legs and pulled him back. He kicked out at the demon and connected with the creatures face causing a sickly cracking noise. Cas wasn't sure what he damaged but he knew it was something.

The demon howled in anger and held his now bleeding face as Cas reached forward and scooped up the heavy pipe. He was surprised when he felt weight to the object, if he were a human he doubted he could lift it well enough to swing but being an angel he shouldn't have been any heavier than a feather. Regardless of the new weight, no matter how slight it may be, he positioned himself for battle once more.

The demon saw the weapon in his hands and knew he possessed no chance empty handed. He was weak and though he would not show it, he could not last much longer in this fight if his opponent carried a pipe like that.

The demon took a step back and Cas thought for a moment he might be retreating. But, the demon bent down and picked up a long piece of glass off the floor without removing his eyes from Castiels own blue ones. His hand tightened around the shard and a thin trail of blood dripped down the edge and dripped off the point.

He must have noticed the blood because the demon looked down and smirked, Cas narrowed his eyes at the demons next move. He lifted the glass and dragged it along his forearm causing blood to spill out all over the clear blade. The demon looked at the blade with a horrid grin and lunged at Castiel one more time. Instinctively the angel leaped backwards but the demon managed to slash him across the chest with the blood soaked blade.

Instead of swinging the pipe like he would have liked he nearly dropped it in surprise due to the painful new sensation he was feeling. There was a stinging feeling flushing thought his chest where the cut sliced his skin. The bruises and cuts covering his body and face were all the more noticeable now. They ached, burned and pounded and when he moved it only made them worse. His eyes widened in pain and shock, he truly had no idea what was happening to him.

Upon seeing his reactions the demon smiled and ran the glass along his seeping blood once more.

"Wh…" Castiel tried to speak, but found it a difficult task. "What have you done?"

The demon shrugged. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Grunting, Castiel managed to push past the newfound pain and attacked the demon again, this time the pipe plunged through the demons chest. The hell creature must have been expecting this because he leapt back to try and evade the attack slashing at his opponent with the glass. Castiel groaned as the glass punctured the flesh of his side, but ignored it and pushed the pipe further into the creature.

Still smirking, the demon fell to the ground, the pipe sticking out of its chest. Castiel breathed deeply and shut his eyes to try and calm himself, when he opened them and looked down the glass was still protruding from his midsection.

The shock of seeing it and it causing so much pain made him gasp. His legs grew weak as they slowly gave out underneath him and he fell hard on his knees. So, not knowing what to do, he gripped the glass and pulled it out in one fluid motion. He had done this before with other objects, but none had ever caused him pain before. He hands clapped over the wound, he felt warm blood trickle out and between his fingers, he closed his eyes again and tried to heal himself.

He waited, but nothing happened.

Opening his eyes his breath hitched in fear, he couldn't heal himself and he was slowly loosing the fight to stay conscious. Out of sheer panic he dug his hand into his pocket in search for the phone, when he pulled it out he gave a silent prayer of thanks that it was not broken.

Dean was number one on the speed dial, Sam was number two. He pushed one.

One ring.

Two rings.

Castiel prayed for Dean to pick up.

Three rings.

"Yeah, what's up, Cas?" Dean's voice said over the line. There was noise behind him and Castiel knew he must have been in a store of some kind.

"I…" Castiel managed, his voice was weak and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get any words out.

"Cas?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"Dean…" Cas tried to speak as he crawled backward and leaned up against one of the support beams. "Dean… I…"

"Cas!" Dean shouted into the phone as loud as he dared, something was defiantly not right here, he thought. Because of his outburst the people in the store were beginning to give him odd glances but he ignored them. "Cas, can you hear me?"

"Believe I… I… I believe I have made… made a mistake." Castiel grunted into the phone.

"Okay, okay, you're okay, you're gonna be okay." Dean cried abandoning his basket of beer and dinner as he ran through the isles and out to his car. "Can you make it anywhere? Can you move at all?"

"I can." Castiel breathed, this may have been a lie though, he wasn't sure yet.

"Okay, we're in room 301 at the Stardust motel in Berry Hill Tennessee."

Dean got worried when the line didn't go dead. Normally when he told Cas where to meet them he was there before Dean even finished. "Cas?" He asked when he finally reached his car in the parking lot. "Cas are you there? Did you get that?"

"Yes…"

"Are you sure you can make it? Where are you? We can come get you."

"I can make it." Castiel assured him but Dean wasn't convinced.

"If you're not there when I get back to the motel we're coming after you, no questions asked."

"Yeah…"

Dean hung up after that and hit the button to dial his brother. After two rings Sam picked up.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked sitting down on the squeaky bed in the motel room.

"Something's wrong." Dean said.

"Oh, no, what happened?" Sam asked getting off the bed and pacing through the room.

"It's Cas," Dean answered. "Something happened to him, he called me and I told him to go to our room… he isn't there yet?"

"No, man, he's not."

"If he's not there by the time I get back we're finding him." Dean said pushing on the gas petal even harder, he was going twenty over the limit now.

"Agreed," Sam said and the boys simultaneously hung up.

Sam stood in the center of the room waiting, if Dean told Cas to meet them in the room then that meant Cas should have been here before Dean even hung up with him. He had seen how fast the angel could get around, and he heard the worry in Dean's voice. Something was defiantly wrong.

Not even a minute later Sam felt a light rush of wing and the flutter of wings. He turned around to see Castiel standing on shaky legs and staring at him. Before Sam could get to him he fell to his knee, but before he could fall forward Sam caught him and hoisted him up to bring him to the bed.

"Castiel?" He asked lying him down and checking him over. He had seen the angel beaten and bruises but this was different, Castiel was not only hurt, but he was hurting. He could feel the pain. "Oh, man…" He breathed and rushed to the bathroom to get a towel to put pressure on the wound.

The second the towel hit Castiel's midsection and pressure was applied his blue eyes shot open and he gasped painfully. He went tense and wide, confused eyes set themselves on Sam.

"Sam?" Castiel breathed.

"Yeah, man, its okay." He said as the white towel quickly soaked up the blood. "You're gonna be alright, Dean and I will make sure."

"Dean?"

"He'll be here, give him a minute." Sam said adding another towel to the bloody mass, he silently cursed the small towels wishing he had grabbed a larger one, but these was the first ones he saw.

Castiel looked awful, Sam thought, he was covered in forming bruises and he bore cuts all over his face and a particularly nasty one across his chest. Sam could see it through the white shirt. He had obviously gotten himself in a fight, but with whom? Was it another angel bent on taking him back to Heaven, or was it a demon?

Not knowing he lifted the towel to see the wound, it had stopped bleeding for now, at least. Satisfied with the work thus far Sam began to help Castiel out of the trench coat and shirt so he could get a better look at the wound and begin cleaning it out. That was the moment Dean decided to ram into the door forgetting it was locked. There was a heavy curse on the other side and the door unlocked quickly, Sam would have laughed if it wasn't such a dire situation.

Dean ran in the room and stopped short seeing the angel in such a state.

"Oh, dammit, Cas!" He cried rushing over to help Sam with the semi-conscious angel. "How is he?"

"I don't know." Sam said pulling the tie off. "I managed to stop the bleeding, it doesn't look too bad. He should be okay; I don't know what's giving him this much pain. What supplies do we have?"

Pretty much nothing," Dean said, at the store he had a couple cases of gauze and ointment in the basket, he wished he had taken it rather than just dumping the basket. "Do you think you can go get some more?"

Sam looked up and then back at Castiel before nodding. "Yeah, yeah I can. Is there a drug store near?"

"None that I saw, you might have to go to the supermarket."

"Yeah, keys?" Sam asked standing up and rushing to the door.

Dean tossed the keys to Sam and the brother ran out the door and to the Impala.

Dean sighed as he peeled the fabric away from the bloodied wounds. "Oh God, Cas, what'd you get yourself into?" He mumbled.

"Dean?" Castiel breathed as the older Winchester dabbed the wounds with the towels to clean up some of the blood. Sam stopped most of the bleeding from the shallow stab, but there was still some blood creeping out but in all it was okay. From what Dean could tell the vital organs had been missed, it was a flesh wound.

"Yeah, Cas, it's me. How do you feel?"

Castiels brow furrowed. "I… it hurts… Dean?" He breathed in a desperate plea.

"Yeah, Cas, it's gonna be okay. Sam will be back in a little bit and he'll have everything we need to patch you up, it'll be alright. Here, take this in the meantime." Dean said tilting a bottle and allowing two pills to fall in his hands.

Castiel took the medication without question and allowed his head to fall back on the pillow behind him with a groan.

"Cas, what did you do?"

"Demon." He answered.

"A demon? One? Would think you'd be able to handle something like that, was he all hopped up on hell juice or something?"

"Demon blood…" He murmured. "Th… the demon blood…"

"What about it?"

Castiels head slumped to the side, his eyes were shut and Dean became momentarily worried.

"Cas?"

"Mm."

"Cas, what about demon blood?"

"Cut me… with glass," Castiel began in a weak voice. "Covered in… demon blood."

Dean's mouth gaped. That's why Castiel was so weak and in so much pain, it wasn't the wounds themselves it was the demon blood mixed with his. It was hurting him. "What do we do? Are you gonna be okay?" Dean asked at a complete loss of what to do here, he had never encountered something like this before.

Castiel gave a weak nod. "Just…" he winced. "Need rest."

"Okay, yeah, man, okay, that we can do."

He watched as Castiel shut his eyes and allowed his body to go limp. A twinge of worry struck Dean, but then, he saw the slightly unsteady breaths causing his chest to rise and fall sharply. He sat back and looked the angel over with a long sigh. He was in bad shape, the wounds weren't life threatening, they just bled a lot and there were so many of them, including a cut right across the bridge of his nose. Dean couldn't help but smile sadly; it seemed to be a repetitive wound. Whenever he saw him after a fight, there that cut was.

With a long sad sigh he cleaned the remainder of the wounds as best he could with what little supplies he had as Castiel slept. The angel flinched every now and then as he worked but he never woke up and Dean was thankful for that, Cas didn't need the added pain of him applying antiseptic or pressure to the injuries.

About five minutes after Castiel passed out Sam rushed back in the room, he instantly quieted when he saw Cas was asleep.

"How is he?" He asked plopping the supplies down on the bed and sat down across from Dean so Cas was between them.

Dean waited several seconds before answering, and when he did he looked up at Sam with a grave expression. "I honestly have no idea."

Sam seemed confused; he tilted his head to the side. "Well… wait, what?"

"I don't think it's the cuts that are hurting him," Dean began to explain what he discovered not long ago. "I think… I think its demon blood." He spoke as if walking on egg shells. The damn blood was a curse on this family, Dean realized, it was hurting everyone he was close to in some way or another.

"Demon blood?" Sam asked needing further explanation.

"When he fought the demon the damn thing had the bright idea of coating his weapon in his blood, so you can imagine when he fought Castiel…"

"The blood got mixed in with his own." Sam murmured. "Oh God…" 

"Yeah, and I don't think some over the counter pain meds will help him." He sighed again as he rummaged through the plastic bag for more bandages. "I don't know what to do here, Sammy."

"We'll figure it out, we always do." Sam comforted. "Does he need to be stitched up at all?"

"I don't know, when he gets his angel mojo back will the stitches just fall out? Or, you know, will he need them?"

"_If_ he gets it back."

"Always the optimist, huh, Sammy?" Dean asked sarcastically. "He'll get it back."

Sam nodded, though he didn't seem as convinced. Maybe he'd get it back but who knew when? Demon blood wasn't something to be taken lightly, he knew that better than anyone.

"Yeah," Sam replied biting his lower lip.

They worked on him in silence for another twenty minutes until they were satisfied they had done enough. The brothers leaned back and stared at the angel for several minutes trying to decide their next move. They looked to one another with a long sigh before Dean pushing himself up to pour himself a drink.

Sam watched him out of the corner of his eye as he moved. His brother was obviously distressing over this, and Sam was too, but it was worse for Dean and they both knew that. Dean and Cas were close, like, brother close. Sam wasn't jealous, not by any means he saw Cas as family by now as well, one big dysfunctional family. But it was different with Dean, Cas was his angel, and he knew his big brother would cringe at that wording, but it was true.

Sam looked back to Cas, the battered angel was resting, not necessarily peacefully, he was twitching and flinching every now and then but he wasn't waking and that was good. They would just have to wait until he woke, then they could see how he was and if he would recover fully at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** So, a bit of a shorter chapter, but that's okay. I decided to extend this a bit longer than I was originally, but only by one chapter. I could twist this into a HUGE storyline but I decided not to, I don't have the time, and lately I've gotten into a habit of getting tired of my multichapter stories after like ten chapters or so. So yeah, only one more chapter after this one.

* * *

Castiel wasn't even aware he had been sleeping, it was all a jumbled blur, that and the fact he had never actually slept before. He didn't quite know what to make of it. He tried to think back, to try and remember how he found himself in this situation but he couldn't quite remember.

Everything seemed very numb at first, but when he tried to tilt his head and take a deep breath it all came rushing back to him as the pain coursed through his body, spreading like wildfire. The rush only made him gasp more which only caused more agony. His eyes shot open and were right away assaulted by light which he wasn't ready for. Shutting them again he winced and tried to calm himself as a painful tear slipped past his eyelid and traveled down his cheekbone.

"Cas?"

He barley heard the plea and he didn't have the energy to respond so he continued to concentrate on his breathing.

"Cas?" The voice said again, this time more desperate.

This time Castiel could not ignore the sound, and the voice was beginning to get clearer, he could now recognize it as Dean. Knowing he would regret it he cracked one of his eyes open, the other hurt far too much to even attempt the task. Blinking against the light he looked into Deans eyes and saw just how worried the human was.

"Dean," he tried to speak, but it came out as more of a mumble.

Dean seemed to understand him though. "Yeah, Cas, yeah, it's me. How're you feeling?" Dean knew this was a stupid question the second he asked it.

Castiel cleared his throat before speaking, it still didn't sound right when he spoke, but at least he could make out words. "I… I d-do not f-feel… well." He grumbled shutting his eyes again and wincing.

"Yeah, I know," Dean said biting his bottom lip. "No better than yesterday though?"

Yesterday? Cas wondered, how long has he been asleep? All day, or just enough to bring them into the next morning? When he had called Dean asking for help it was well into the night, he wasn't sure what time but the boys weren't sleeping yet so it couldn't have been that late.

"Cas?" Dean questioned again in worry.

"I feel…" Cas took a moment to study himself, his wounds no longer hurt as much but it was like his veins were on fire. To move his muscles at all resulted in pain, even the simple tasks of blinking and breathing caused a light sting. "My injuries no longer hurt as much, they have diminished to a low throb."

Dean nodded; he was hoping that's what he would say. So far this was the third time Castiel had woken up. The last time was only an hour or so ago; Dean had given him some painkillers. They seemed to have helped.

"Good," he said.

"However," Castiel continued and Dean cringed, of course there was a 'however'. "It… it is painful to move."

Well, thought Dean that explains why he hasn't so much as turned his head yet, it certainly doesn't sound good.

"You can't move?" Dean asked incredulously.

"No," Castiel answered. "Not without causing pain, at least."

"Jesus," Dean murmured leaning back. "I suppose that means you can't heal yourself yet, huh?"

"No."

"Right." Dean sighed.

"How… how much time has… has passed?"

Dean could tell Cas was trying his hardest to fight through the pain, act like it wasn't bothering him. But he could see right through the angel's poor charade, Cas was hurting and there was nothing Dean or Sam could do to stop it, they didn't know the first thing about this stuff.

"Since?" Dean asked.

"Since I… fell un-unconscious." Castiel managed.

He thought. "Almost twenty hours I'd say, maybe closer to nineteen."

Castiel turned his head in surprise only to causer a wave of pain jolting through his neck. He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Sorry," Dean said.

"Where is Sam?" He asked in a low voice as he fought the pain.

"He went to get something for dinner, he'll be back soon."

Castiel gave dean the faintest nod the hunter had ever seen; at first he wasn't even sure he has seen anything.

"Why don't you try and get some more rest?" Dean suggested. "Maybe the blood just needs to work its way out of your system. You know, like a detox."

Castiel opened his one eye and managed to squint the other open as far as he could, he gazed at Dean. Both of them only wished it would be that simple. But somehow they both knew this was much more serious and neither of them knew how to deal with it.

Dean looked away from Castiel unable to handle the pain filled eyes any longer. "You get some sleep, Cas," he said with his head still turned away. "I'm gonna… I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute."

Dean felt the angel's intense blue eyes on his back as he stalked away to the bathroom. He shut the door behind him heavily and leaned against the sink. After taking several calming breaths he lifted his gaze and looked into the mirror. He looked awful, not nearly as bad as Castiel but still, he had hardly slept a wink since the angel fell into their care, neither had Sammy. They were both up for hours waiting in silence, maybe flipping through the channels or talking quietly, just waiting for Castiel to sit up and look at them like they were crazy for worrying. Then they would exchange a few words and off he would be to go look for God.

But it didn't work out like that, every single time Castiel woke he was in pain, the second time he was in extreme pain. Tears were draining from his eyes and his face was painfully contorted. He was whimpering and crying out for help, for his father, his brothers, for Dean and Sam. But no one did anything, no one could do anything. Dean didn't think Cas remembered waking up at all in the night, and it was probably for the best. He didn't need to remember a pain that great.

Dean stared at himself for several minutes; he scooped up some water from the sink and washed his face real quick before turning to enter the room again. When he opened the door he paused and listened, Castiel was speaking. At first he thought maybe Sam had returned but then after listening for a moment he head what he was really saying.

He was praying.

Dean lowered his head and waited until Cas had finished before reentering and when he did Castiel was fast asleep.

* * *

Sam was walking through the small shop next to the pizza parlor with his hands shoved in his pockets as he waited for their pizza to finish cooking. They said it would be a good twenty minutes and with all that's been happening he didn't have the patience to sit still and wait.

He was worried about Castiel, really, _really_ worried. The angel had helped them out so much in the past, too much to say and here he was hurt and they couldn't do a thing to help him. Castiel went through so much for them, he was practically falling to help them defeat Lucifer, he was a fugitive among his own family. Sam couldn't imagine what that felt like, sure he had his problems with Dad, or Dean or even Bobby in the past but eventually they all got over it and they were good again and no matter what there was always love there. Sam couldn't really talk though; he didn't know what sort of feelings angels possessed.

He glanced up at the clock over the register and saw that it was five minutes past the time he was due back. He headed for the door and then walked the five steps to the pizza parlor next door. It was a small place, but the pizza looked good and it was cheep, that was all that mattered.

He paid the young blonde woman on the other side of the counter, she gave him a flirtatious smile and Sam thought she may have said something to him but he wasn't paying much attention. For all he knew she could have written her phone number in huge black letters on the pizza box and he wouldn't have noticed.

He made his way out to the Impala, opening the passenger door he slide the pizza in the seat. Before he straightened up he felt a rush of wind and the light flutter of wings. Sighing, he automatically moved his hand to the weapon he kept concealed at his belt.

"Now Sammy," the voice scolded behind him. "You know that'll never work on me."

Sam straightened and turned around to come face to face with the Archangel Gabriel.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Okay guys, last chapter, I was debating on splitting this into two, but I thought one large chapter now is better than one smaller chapter now and another small chapter in a week. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it, I sure enjoyed writing it.

Also if you've seen the last couple episodes let me just rant for a second here. First, good for Cas, I was expecting him to sit in the emo corner in this episode and then be back for the next one, but he was there, so good for him. Granted he's been better but still. Also Dean… AAAAAAAHHH. That is all.

Dean twitched nervously in the chair, Castiel hadn't woken up yet, he hadn't even flinched in his sleep. He knew it was a good thing but he didn't like it, to him it looked too much like Castiel was dead. Actually, if Dean didn't know better he might have actually of mistaken Castiel for being dead.

After he had fallen asleep Dean took the opportunity to check his wounds and change the bandages. Nothing was changing, he wasn't healing at all, it was like he was a human but he obviously still wasn't, or… at least he thought he still wasn't. What angelic powers had Castiel shown within the last day or so? None that he could think of, he seemed human and that scared Dean. Castiel shouldn't be human, he should be an angel, he should be stronger and quicker than Dean not lying in the bed looking like death.

If this didn't heal on its own he had no idea what they were going to do, he could always take him to Bobby's and see if the older hunter could figure something out. But, that would require moving Castiel and it was apparent that every movement caused him extreme pain. Unless they managed to get Bobby here but that would take days and he wasn't sure waiting and allowing Castiel to suffer was any better than moving him.

Then again, why take him to Bobby's or have him come here? He could always call him.

Dean pushed himself up off the chair and grabbed his cell phone off the table. He pushed the button that would automatically call Bobby and waited.

"Yeah," the older gruffer man answered.

"Hey, Bobby." Dean said trying not to sound too depressed but found that he was having trouble with it.

"Dean," Bobby stated instantly telling there was something wrong. "Are you boys okay? Didn't get yourself in no trouble, did you?"

"Uh, not us exactly… more like Castiel got himself in trouble."

There was a pause and for a moment Dean feared their connection was lost. "Bobby?" He finally asked. "Are you still there?"

Bobby snapped out of his trance. "Yeah, I'm here, how exactly is he in trouble cause if its with the other angels I'm not sure there's much we can do for him. You might just have to wait that out."

"No, it was with a demon, he's sorta out of commission."

Another pause, but this one wasn't nearly as long. "How?" Bobby asked.

"He got beat up, Bobby, he got beat up really bad, I don't know what to do anymore. He can't even heal himself and it doesn't look like anything's healing over, it's only been a day though we might have to give it more time but Bobby… Bobby it's like he's human. He can't even move."

Bobby didn't know anything that could take an angel down like that, he knew Castiel had gotten himself into almost as many scraps as the boys but he had seen the angels healing powers first hand. Nothing should have him tied up like the way Dean was describing.

"But here's the kicker," Dean continued. "Cas said that when he and the demon were fighting the son of a bitch coated his weapon with his nasty demon blood and cut Cas with it."

"So his blood mingled with the demons." Bobby said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you ever hear of that?"

"Nothing solid, just old stories of demons that poison themselves..." He trailed off in thought.

"What?"

"Yeah, it slowly kills them, but it makes their blood so strong that you can't flush it out of your system. There's supposed to be something else too but it's hazy at best, that type of blood mixed with that of their enemies would render the victim helpless… I'd have to look again, I don't remember much."

"So, Cas and this demon were like mortal enemies?"

Dean could almost hear Bobby roll his eyes. "Not that literal, idiot. Just the fact he's an angel and the other guy was a demon would do the trick, if this demon has poisoned himself and if he has mixed his blood with your angels… I don't know…

Dean chose to ignore Bobby referencing Cas as his angel. "Do you remember how to stop it?"

"Dean," Bobby said somberly and Dean hung his head, that tone never meant good news. "I don't know if you can. I can do some research but from what I've heard… the only way out is death."

"That's not gonna happen, Bobby."

"I know, now listen, you sit tight. I'll do some research if I find anything I'll call you, if I find a way to help I'll be there as soon as I can. You just wait."

"Easy for you to say."

"I know Dean, but there isn't much we can do right now."

"Yeah, I know, I'll let you go. Sam should be back soon anyway, I'll talk to him about what you said."

"Alright, I'll be in touch."

"Yeah," Dean repeated and snapped his phone shut. He refused to believe there might not be a cure for this. He looked back to Castiel who had shifted in his sleep causing him to silently gasp in pain. Dean knew sleeping was the best thing for him now, maybe while he was sleeping he couldn't feel pain, then again, he had no idea what he was dreaming about.

He decided he should just go and sit beside the bed, Sam would be back soon with the food. Not that he was in any mood to eat but he hadn't in almost twenty four hours and Sam said they should eat before they get sick as well and Dean couldn't help but agree. Starving themselves wasn't getting Cas any better.

He rested his chin on his knuckles and stared at the prone figure of his friend. He intended to do this until Sam came in but a slight stirring from the bed changed his plans. "Cas?"

Castiel was weak, he was still half asleep but he managed to respond. "Mmm…" he moaned painfully.

"Cas," he repeated. "You alive in there buddy?"

"Dean," Castiel grimaced. "I am…"

Dean paused and looked down at his hands. "Look, I was uh, I was talking to Bobby a little while ago and he said he might know what's happening to you."

There was no response from Castiel so Dean assumed he could continue on.

"He says he thinks maybe the demon poisoned itself, and that's maybe why you're not getting better. He said... he said he didn't know how to cure it. Not yet."

"There are ways…" Castiel murmured recognizing the situation for what it was now.

"What?" Dean asked. "There is? Well, what is it? Tell me so we can do it."

"I can die…"

"That's not an option."

"Or I can loose my grace." He continued.

"You mean… become mortal?"

"Yes." Castiel said closing his eyes; Dean wasn't sure if this was from fatigue or if he comprehended what was happening to him.

Dean stared for several seconds. "So you'd fall? Become human?"

"Yes."

"That's not gonna happen either, I won't let it. I won't let you fall for something as stupid as this. You already got cut off from Heaven I'm not letting it get worse."

"Mmm." Castiel answered.

Thinking he had fallen back asleep Dean held his head in his hands, Castiel probably knew better than Bobby anyway. Closing his eyes he almost allowed himself to drift off to sleep in the uncomfortable position he was in, just as sleep began to overtake him he heard the sound of a key at the door. Instantly he lifted his head and waited for Sam.

When his brother opened the door Dean furrowed his brow at the lack of food in his hands since that was the point of Sam leaving in the first place. But then, when he held the door open for another to enter a wave of panic rushed over Dean.

"What the hell?" He asked as Gabriel followed Sam in the room.

"Dean, no, it's not what you think." Sam said.

"And what exactly do I think, Sam? That you led an archangel into the room? That you led an archangel into the room, who's wanted nothing but bad things for us from the start?"

"That's not why he's here."

"Yeah?"

"It's not," Gabriel said looking sincere but Dean knew this particular angel was a good liar. "I want to help Castiel."

"How do I know you're telling the truth? Last time you saw him you zapped him God knows where and threw him into a wall! Why would _you_ want to help him?" Dean exploded knocking the chair over as he stood up.

Surprisingly Gabriel didn't shout or threaten him, he just stood there looking guilty.

"I know, but there's something you have to understand Dean."

"Yeah, what's that?"

Gabriel gave a helpless shrug. "He's my little brother."

"Oh come on!" Dean shouted turning away and shaking his head before turning back to Gabriel. "That's never bothered you before, you hate Castiel, you hate all of us. Sam I can't believe you would bring him here."

Sam opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut of by a now angry Gabriel.

"I may do many things, Dean," he hissed. "But I do not hate Castiel, he's my brother and I love him."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

He sighed angrily, but kept his voice level. "One big brother to another," he began quietly. "I know you Dean and I know your relationship with Sam. Wasn't it true that before your father went missing you and Sam hardly spoke, or never spoke might be more appropriate? Not only that, but you two have been mad at one another and I mean _mad. _You could be furious with him, but you never hated him. You never stopped loving him, he's your brother and he always will be no matter what. I may be angry with my family right now, Dean, but I love each and every one of them no matter what stupid stunt they pull. Isn't it true, Dean, no matter how mad at Sam you are if he was in trouble you would come running?"

Dean looked down, it was true and they all knew it.

"Yeah, I thought so."

Dean shook his head, still not trusting the angel. "How did you even find us? I thought Cas did his angel thing to our ribs?"

"He did, I didn't find you. I found him, he prayed for me to come and I heard him. He prayed for our brothers for Father, I knew no one else would help him. The others want him out of the way; I'm the only chance he has. I only followed Sam because I knew you would never let me in if I can to you, Dean."

"You could just make me leave." Dean told him.

"Look, I'm here to help my brother, not make the only friends he has go poof. I want to help, not start a fight. That's why I'm here talking now, trust me, if I wanted you out of my way you'd be out of my way."

Dean couldn't deny that. "You… you know what's wrong with him?"

"Yeah, I found the demon he fought with. He poisoned himself with every intent on getting Castiel out of the way so you boys are easier to get to. Now, you know my stance on this whole matter, I'm not going into that now. I'm only here for Castiel."

"Are you?"

"Yes."

Dean sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. He didn't know what to do, he wished Castiel was awake, he would know. "Then you know how to fix him?" Suddenly a thought entered Dean's mind. Castiel said other than death the only other way to help him was…

"No." Dean said.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"You're not ripping his grace out."

Sam perked up. "What?"

"Yeah, I was talking to Cas before you two showed up, he said there were only two ways out of this. Death or getting his grace removed and I'm not letting you do either." 

"I don't plan on doing either. I would never do that to him."

"Even if he asked?"

Gabriel paused. "I don't know, but not now. I need to try this first."

"And what exactly is this?"

"I just… I just want to try and heal him, you know, the old fashioned way?"

"You can do that?"

Gabriel huffed and shrugged. "Well yeah, you know, archangel and all that. I think I can do it."

"Are you sure?"

Gabriel paused as he stepped forward, staring at his brother. "No." He finally said and sat down in the vacant seat beside the bed. "Castiel?" He whispered stopping himself from reaching up ands touching him. "Castiel, brother, I need you to wake up."

"Why does he need to be awake?" Sam asked.

"I need him to help me." Gabriel answered shortly. "Please, Castiel, wake up."

Cas stirred in the bed which cause a pained look to cross his face. He slowly and tentatively opened his eyes. "Gabriel…" he whispered almost relieved at seeing his brother which surprised Dean, he thought he would be annoyed to see him.

"Yes," Gabriel answered, his eyebrows slanted upward in sympathy. "I came."

"I do not feel well," Castiel murmured.

"I know, that's why I'm here, I want to help you get better."

Castiel ever so slightly furrowed his brow. "Help me?"

"Yes, now please, I want you to try and heal yourself as best you can." Gabriel must as seen something or heard something Castiel said that Dean didn't because he began protesting. "I know, I know, but you need to try, I'm going to help you. I can't do it without you helping me out. So can you try? Please?"

"I will." Castiel told him shutting his eyes.

"Okay, here we go." Gabriel sighed and took a deep breath before hovering his hands an inch above Castiels chest.

At first it seemed as nothing was happening but then after several seconds Castiel's back arched and he cried out in pain. Immediately Dean was kneeling down next to the bed with Sam behind him both of them wearing similar expressions of worry.

"What's happening?" Sam asked as Dean couldn't seem to use his words.

Gabriel didn't respond, he kept his hands positioned over Castiel as he withered and screamed in the bed thrashing about as much as his weakened body would allow him. It broke Gabriel's heart to see brother in such a state, sure, he laughed at him sometimes and mocked him but he would never wish something like this to happen. What he said to Dean was sincere, he loved his brother. He remembered when their brothers and sisters were being killed by Uriel, he felt each one of their deaths and they all pained him.

But now he was here and he was the one causing his brother pain and that hurt him even more. He had to shut his eyes to try and block out Castiel twisting in agony, but shutting your eyes didn't help with the sounds, in fact, it only amplified them.

"Just a little longer, brother," Gabriel whispered as he cracked his eyes open with a look of determination in them. "Just a little longer."

Just a little longer felt like ages though from where Dean was sitting. He couldn't wait for it to be over partially because Castiel would be healed and partially because it would cease the screams and cries for help. Just when he shut his eyes did he head Gabriel all but yell and he opened his eyes again.

"Don't give up!" Gabriel gasped shutting his eyes. "Please, Castiel, you can't now, not now, you're too close. Please, keep healing you can't stop, I know you want to but you can't."

They couldn't tell if Cas was aware of what Gabriel was saying, all they knew was that Gabriel didn't shout anymore so something must have gone right. After another minute or so Gabriel rested his hands on Castiel's chest and took a deep breath. The hunters, not knowing what was going on, exchanged a curious look and then turned their gaze to Gabriel.

"Is he… is he okay?" Dean asked raising his eyebrows.

Gabriel leaned back looking Castiel over. "I don't know, we'll see when he –"

Castiel let out a strangled cry as his eyes shot open.

"Wakes up." He finished as Castiels screaming reduced to nothing more than heavy breathing. "Castiel?" He asked experimentally leaning forward. "How do you feel?"

He continued to gasp for air and with wide curious eyes he turned his head to see Gabriel. "I…" he began between breaths. "I am… tired."

"You moved." Dean said a small smile appearing across his face.

Castiel looked down at himself and slowly lifted his arms to examine himself. "It appears as though I did."

"You're better." Sam said with a smile.

"Am I?" He looked at Gabriel.

He shrugged. "I guess… do you hurt?"

"Yes," Castiel answered and the three other heaved a long sigh. "But," he said and they all perked up once more. "It is not the same type of hurt. I am…" Castiel furrowed his brow in thought. "I am… I don't feel much, but it…" Maybe it was simply that he didn't know how to describe pain or maybe it was because he was fading in and out but he couldn't manage to form complete sentences.

"It's okay, you feel better than before though?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes."

"That's all that matters, if you need me again just call for me. I will always come if you need me, Castiel, _always_."

The corner of Castiel's mouth twisted upward in a small smile. "Yes," he breathed. "Thank you, brother."

"It's what I'm here for." Gabriel said standing up as Castiel finally lost his battle with fatigue. He turned to face the boys and shot them a grin. "If he needs me again I'll be back, but I don't think he will. At least not for this, he's healing and he'll be better in a matter of hours. He just needs to recover from the stress." He looked back at Castiel. "Since he's lost his connection with Heaven he can't recover as fast, but he'll be okay."

"Hey, man," Dean began but Gabriel interrupted them.

"Yeah," Gabriel said. "I know what you want to say Dean and there's no need. It's like I said, he's my brother. I need him as much as you need Sam. Goodbye, for now." He smiled again and disappeared.

The two stood there in shock.

"Whew," Dean finally breathed out. "Man that was… unexpected."

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "But at least Castiel is gonna be okay."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, he'll be okay." There was a small pause and Dean jerked for a second like he was suddenly remembering something. "Yo, we gotta call Bobby."


End file.
